As newly crowned MVP Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder take on Tyrese Haliburton and the upstart Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, both point guards will enjoy the biggest stages of their respective careers.
SGA, who led the league in scoring this season with 32.7 points per game on 51.9% shooting, has emerged as the next great NBA superstar at the age of 26.
Haliburton, whose Reggie Miller impression earned him one of the most viral moments of the season and a signature victory over the rival New York Knicks, might not be the perennial MVP candidate that SGA has become, but the fifth-year pro has an immensely attractive story arc as he silenced his peers who voted him league’s most “overrated” player this year.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the season-long dominance of SGA and the late rise of Haliburton, while both of their card markets have gone up and to the right, the timing has been quite different.
SGA’s cards have surged to new heights all year long, with 17 of his top 20 sales coming since the start of the season. His CardLadder index is up 211.11% over the past six months.
Over the past 365 days, according to Market Movers, SGA is sixth among active NBA players in sales volume — up 31.4% — with $3.8 million.
On the other hand, Haliburton’s rise has been far more recent. In fact, his sales volume is actually down slightly (2.1%) in the past year and ranked 17th among active NBA players over that period with $1.1 million. Just six of his top 20 sales have occurred since the start of the season.
But over the past 14 days, as Haliburton benefited from the bright lights of the Eastern Conference finals, in which he was at the center of the Pacers' upset of the Knicks. Over that period his sales volume is up 105%. That is the largest jump for any basketball player over that period (minimum 1,000 sales).
In second place is SGA, with a 71.7% jump. Haliburton's top all-time sale also occurred during this period, breaking the six-figure mark for the first time.
SGA’s cards tend to trade much higher than Haliburton’s, so while his total sales over the past 14 days are nearly double ($365,400 vs. $191,000), he actually has fewer individual sales (1,900 vs 2,500).
The MVP season bump has been in full effect for SGA all season. Should he become an NBA champion, the seventh-year pro seems poised to continue trending higher, perhaps bringing him into the top tier of NBA players in the hobby.
For Haliburton, this unexpected playoff run has revved his card market up from a comparatively tranquil and flat season to a rapidly accelerating trajectory. A win for him and the Pacers would likely pour fuel on that fire.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.